Fever Dreams
by hufflepuff whump medic
Summary: After a strange chemical attack on Avengers Tower takes away some of Captain America's powers, he catches a nasty form of the flu. To make matters worse, he's got asthma and his other problems again! Dr. Strange and Maria Hill take care of him while Banner creates a cure for the gas weapon.


It started as a normal day at base camp, but went straight downhill from there. Steve was propelled into a hellish realm full of swastikas, explosions, and the cries of his fallen American brothers. And then, from the distance, came a huge, terrifying beast. A humongous, snarling, three-headed reptilian creature was walking straight toward him and his platoon. He heard a corporal shout, "Hydra! It's a Hydra!" Steve just stood there in pure fear. How could he defeat this creature? He stared into its eyes, which had swastikas where its pupils should be. Was the führer controlling this beast? Was it going to swallow the allies whole?

Steve heard a battle cry from a very familiar voice: his best friend Bucky Barnes. Before he realized what Bucky was doing and could attempt to stop him he saw his best friend throw a grenade at one of the creature's hideous heads. The explosion was way too small to cause any damage.

Steve ran in the direction of Bucky, ordering him to run as far away as he could from the Hydra. But instead, the Hydra grabbed Bucky Barnes in its jaws, bit down on Bucky and crushed him like a grape. Steve screamed in mourning as it swallowed his friend- his brother- into its disgusting belly. Before he knew it, the Hydra's other head chomped down on Steve's legs, threw him up into the air, and the last thing Cap saw was a bright red swastika on a pitch black background, along with the scream that he heard when Bucky fell off of that freight car, before he felt someone shaking him.

The real world quickly materialized around him. Steve breathed heavily as he tried to make sense of what was going on. He felt so scared. And sad. And completely overwhelmed.

Further coming back into a waking state, he found himself sobbing into his pillow and shaking as Maria Hill rubbed his back and gently shushed him. "Steve, Steve, it's okay," she reassured him, "you're safe. You're okay. Don't cry, it's okay."

"No… its not… B-Bucky… no… h-hydra…" he spluttered into his wet pillow. Maria leaned in to try and calm Steve down. He grabbed onto her arms and whimpered some more. She held him and gently shushed him. Steve was shaking like a leaf as he held on to Maria. "M'ria… the Nazis… th-they're coming…" Steve cried.

"No, they aren't, Steve. You're safe. I'm here," Maria said to him, "just lay back down and take some deep breaths. You're running a crazy high fever."

Steve started to slowly remember what had happened in the past week. It was December. Hydra attacked the tower with some sort of chemical weapon while he and the other avengers were decorating. Something in it took away some of Cap's powers, but left the rest of the avengers unaffected. He discovered this when couldn't heal himself when he accidentally cut his hand chopping vegetables, and tired out very easily while training. He was still his young, sweet self, and he still had his strength, but the rest of his body didn't seem to reflect that. Bruce was hard at work on an antidote for the poisonous gas. In the meantime, Steve was told to not overexert himself, seeing that some of the symptoms of his old ailments were coming back, and the fact that he would get tired easily and couldn't train as hard as he usually did.

To add insult to injury, this year's flu season was brutal in New York. Even Clint and Tony got flu shots (after much talk about how they had manly immune systems and didn't need vaccines, Natasha dragged them to the pharmacy and bribed them with Ben and Jerry's.) Of course, Steve didn't, because he was immune to all earthly diseases. He tried to be extra careful, but he ended up getting hit hard by the flu, right before he was going to go get the shot.

He hadn't felt that sick since 1939 when he came down with scarlet fever. It was a blur; suddenly his head started pounding, he was shivering and sweating, and his throat was all swollen. He wasn't sure how he got into this bed in the infirmary with Maria nursing him, he assumed that he must have passed out sometime back there.

Steve tried to calm himself with some deep breaths. It was only a dream… only a dream… his heart was pounding. He remembered feeling those heart palpitations all the time before he became a super soldier. It was like he was that sickly little boy all over again. But with more muscle. And some more wisdom. And no best friend Bucky, which was really sad.

Maria folded a cool, wet cloth and laid it on Steve's forehead. He sighed in relief. "I'm surprised you didn't morph into an old man after that gas attack. So strange…" She said to him, "it only took away some of your abilities."

"Yeah, um, how's it going with Bruce making the antidote? Any progress?" Steve asked Maria in a quiet, sick voice. Talking made his swollen throat hurt.

"Well, I'm not sure about the progress, but I can tell you he's so focused on developing the antiserum that he tasked me with being the nurse," she replied.

"That's sweet," croaked Steve. He moved around on the bed to try and find a better position to lay in so he could breathe better. "I can't breathe… very good…" he said to Maria with a wheeze.

"Yeah, um, apparently your asthma is coming back," Maria told him, "do you need some sort of medication? You got a prescription for an inhaler…" Maria got interrupted by Stephen Strange walking in and tossing Maria a paper bag. He then grabbed his white coat and put it on, because it made him feel more doctor-y.

"There you go, Maria," Dr. Strange said as he walked into Steve's room.

"Wait a minute, what is he doing here?" Steve asked Maria.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you that Bruce also called Dr. Strange over to take care of your needs. He's the one who prescribed you with the puffer and looked you over while you were in some sort of feverish delirium."

"Oh… I don't remember that…" Steve said while wheezing. He had never felt so weak. Right now, he just wanted to lay here and let others make sure he is alive, because he felt too tired to check on his own well-being.

"As the M.D. here, Steve, I've decided its time for your medicine. You know how to use a puffer?" Dr. Strange said. Steve shook his head negatively. "That's fine," he said in his calm voice he always spoke in while tending to the sick, "you look way too tired to do it properly anyway. I'll help you. Maria, the spacer, please." Maria handed him the tube like device and he snapped the little inhaler in to it. Steve put his lips on the other end of the spacer.

"Okay, just breathe slowly and deeply so the medicine can make it into your lungs, alright?" Dr. Strange instructed him. He then pressed the button on the medicine which diffused it into the chamber. Steve felt his breathing get easier as he took in the inhaler's contents.

After Steve finished taking him medicine, Maria warmed up some soup in a cup and gave it to him. There was always some supernatural healing power connected to a cup of chicken soup, Steve was sure of it. Dr. Strange was unable to find a connection between chicken soup and the mystic arts, however.

"Now that I'm back, Steve, I want to give you a full check-up just because I'm worried about your returning health problems creating complications. Is that ok with you?" He asked Cap.

"You'll have to do it just right here," he replied in his quiet, sick voice, "I don't think I can get up and move."

"That's alright, Steve," Dr. Strange said as he went and got his medical tools from the other room, including his leather doctor's bag, which he loved because it just felt so old fashioned and cool. Surely Steve would agree, too.

"Aw, cool doctor's bag, Stephen," Cap said as Dr. Strange rolled it along with some other tools on an instrument tray toward Steve's bed. I rest my case, he thought to himself after that comment.

Stephen took out his stethoscope and listened to Cap's breathing and his heart; both weren't as healthy as they used to be. Of course, this was justified seeing that Steve's asthma and heart problems were back. He also took his temperature and listened to Steve's cough. Stephen decided that he would just have to closely monitor his patient's condition so he could recover quickly enough, because he wasn't sure if Steve should take the antidote while he was still sick.

"Hmm… Steve, for you I prescribe rest, IV fluids, inhaled medicines to make sure you can breathe okay, and close monitoring," Stephen said as he stuffed his tools back in his doctor's bag. Steve closed his eyes as he felt rather sensitive to the bright lights in the infirmary. He asked Maria to turn down the lights.

Stephen flicked on a lamp and positioned it over Steve, which made him wince. "Sorry, buddy, I gotta see where I'm putting the IV needle. Hold still," he said. In the short space of fifteen minutes he had put Steve on some monitors, started his IV, gave him an oxygen mask for when he needed it, and made him more soup. "Impressive," Maria said regarding the whole treatment.

"Thanks," Dr. Strange said.

"Well, I thank both of you for caring for me. Oh, and Stephen, I'm glad you could take time away from your magical mystic stuff to help. I feel kinda dumb being back in my annoying sickly form. Thanks for putting up with me," Steve said.

"No, no, I'm glad to take care of you, Steve," Stephen replied.

"Same. You're kinda cute when you're helpless," Maria added sheepishly. Steve smiled at the both of them, and knowing that he had no reason to feel guilty for being sick, let Maria and Stephen fuss over him and help him feel better. Together they watched Raiders of the Lost Ark (a movie on Steve's list,) and when it was over, Steve said, "sorta inaccurate, but yeah, it was a good movie." He then slept for quite a while.

It took Steve a week to get better from his flu. Dr. Strange was successful in preventing complications that all of Steve's infirmities would cause. After another week passed, Bruce (with the help of Jemma Simmons and Dr. Strange,) refined his serum. When it was given to Steve, he felt quite nauseous and he had to lie down, but the very next day his excellent health and other abilities he had lost from the gas attack were restored.

"Thank you, everybody! I'm gonna go work out. Man, I haven't been able to train without passing out for what seems like forever! Ciao!" He said after Stephen, Bruce, and Jemma decided that he was back to his old super soldier self again.

"I'm gonna miss taking care of that guy. He's actually a very good patient. Sweet and cooperative," Maria said as she watched Steve bolt out the door like a madman.

"Amen," Stephen replied.


End file.
